Friday, December 10, 2010

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to everyone! This is the blog for Historia Mundi, which is an alternate history project of mine that I have worked on (on and off) for some time now. I have decided to create a blog for this project in order to provide it with a permanent and stable home that is easy to access for any of the viewing public that might be interested in my project.

For anyone that doesn't know, alternate history is basically the 'What If' of history. 'What if the Confederates won the American Civil War?' 'What if Hitler died before taking over Germany?' are two examples. To look at it another way, its where historical fiction and science fiction meet. There are many successful and prolific Alternate History writers, past and present, and many people find it a very fascinating subject (admittedly, most of us are a tad nerdy).

Myself, I find it fascinating to imagine what it would be like to live in a world where so much is at once familiar and different. Imagine how our culture would be different if, for example, the Beatles never made it big (likely poorer for it). Imagine how your daily commute would be if streetcars were still prevalent in America (likely easier for urbanites). Imagine how different your soda would taste if we still all used sugar cane in them (likely better, and healthier). Its the little things and the big things that make our lives, and any one of them could be different.

Of course, once you change one thing, that will change something else, which changes something else, throughout all time. If there were no Beatles, to use my previous example, what becomes of the Rolling Stones and countless other bands inspired by them? What becomes of the bands inspired by those bands? Think of how many people likely fell in love with the help of one of those bands; might they have ever dated, married, and had kids? If not, imagine the world with completely different people having born and died over the decade. The ripples extend outward more and more, and anything is possible.

So, now that I've given a rudimentary explanation of alternate history and why it interests me, I should probably stop burying the lead and tell everyone what this project is all about. Well, Historia Mundi is basically latin for "History of the World" and is the title I've chosen for a complete world history timeline of an alternate history. The premise is largely centered around the ancient Roman civilization, and how it might have developed separately. Anything is possible, within reason; though I will admit to having a soft spot for the Roman Empire, so expect the history of this alternate world to be kind to Rome.

I've rambled enough for now, so I'll stop typing soon. I hope everyone who comes here enjoys my work and I encourage as much feedback, positive and negative, as possible.